For seven weeks Oldham was placed under enhanced restrictions that places elsewhere, and some with higher infection rates – did not have to follow. The two key restrictions were that funerals that took place in Oldham were forced to have only 20 mourners, when the limit everywhere else was 30 and that Oldhamer’s were only allowed to use public transport for ‘essential’ journeys.
Oldham West and Royton MP Jim McMahon used a written parliamentary question to ask the Department of Health and Social care to share data around the number of infections that were sourced to funeral attendance. Nearly two months on, the government was unable to point to any evidence, instead a reply from the Minister insisted, “The information is not held in the format requested.”
Jim said, “I am so frustrated at this answer, it’s just another in a long line that aren’t good enough from this government. It took them two months to admit that there was no real basis for these local restrictions.”
“These measures had real impacts on people’s lives, people in Oldham were prevented from going to the funerals of their loved ones as a result of this. To everyone in Oldham that was unable to attend a funeral because of these measures I am deeply sorry.”
Jim McMahon OBE MP 